Reminder: Churches OK to broadcast Super Bowl
We reported this last year, but for those churches that didn’t get the word: It’s OK to broadcast the Super Bowl game on Sunday.
Lots of churches offer Super Bowl watch parties to bring congregations together and also as an outreach opportunity to football fans in the surrounding community.
The Religion News Service sent out a brief today noting that the Rutherford Institute, which joined members of Congress in challenging the National Football League’s previous rules, has reminded churches that they can host viewing parties on Sunday on large-screen televisions in their buildings.
“As long as they follow the basic guidelines set forth by the NFL, churches can now rest assured that they are free to have football parties and show the Super Bowl game,” said John W Whitehead, president of the Charlottesville, Va.-based civil liberties organization, told the RNS.
The Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals face off in Super Bowl XLIII in Tamp, Fla., on Sunday.
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said the modified policy eliminated past rules regarding the size of the screens on which the game is shown.
McCarthy said the only thing his organization asks is that churches not charge admission and that they hold the parties at locations they regularly use for large gatherings.
McCarthy told the RNS that his New York offices continue to receive calls from churches about the policy. “We had always had calls throughout the history of the Super Bowl,” he said. “It hasn’t been that substantial this year.”
Members of Congress and church leaders objected to the NFL’s previous ban on widescreen televisions. The league had said churches could not hold Super Bowl parties featuring TV screens larger than 55 inches, even though sports bars routinely did.
Last February, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, sent NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell a letter with a series of questions about the policy, and Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., introduced legislation that would permit churches to show the game on widescreen TVs.
Goodell wrote back to Hatch to inform him of the rule change and noted that the league believed the legislation was not necessary.
(AP PHOTO above)
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
A sermon to make you squirm …
How many of us have heard sermons that made us squirm uncomfortably?I’m talking about those sermons that challenge the way we do things or those that force us to confront our apathy on certain issues.
Geez magazine is sponsoring a contest for pastors who preach those sermons that make people squirm.
It’s called the Daringly Awkward Sermon Contest.
The 2009 contest builds upon last year’s “”30 Sermons You’d Never Hear in Church Contest.”
“The world needs bold voices of spiritual depth,” Geez publisher Aiden Enns said in a news release.
”But maybe the message can have an element of holy mischief, a smirk instead of a furrowed brow, and, at the same time, more connection to the pressing issues of the day.”
The Daringly Awkward Sermon Contest invites entries that explore the aspects of social change that make folks squirm, things like privilege, the drunk stranger in the back pew, guilt feelings, or litter in the poor part of town.
The leaders at the magazine said constructing a more fair and compassionate world involves awkward people, pauses and topics, and “we want to find the wisdom in the awkwardness.”
The top three sermons will receive $400 each. The winners plus a selection of other entries will be published in the Spring 2009 issue of Geez. Deadline for entries is February 28, 2009. Word limit is 800.
Enter the contest at contest@geezmagazine.org.
Incidentally, the Winnipeg, Canada-based Geez Magazine is a self-described ”quarterly magazine of spirit and social action.”
Go online to www.geezmagazine.org to see what else the magazine is up to.
(Photo above was taken from the Geez Magazine Web site)
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
New information surfaces about Haggard
“The Trials of Ted Haggard,” a HBO documentary about disgraced evangelist Ted Haggard, has caused a firestorm of sorts for Haggard’s former congregation, New Life Church of Colorado Springs, Colo.
The Religion News Service — and a host of other news media outlets — is reporting that there is a new sex scandal involving Haggard and the church.
New Life Pastor Brady Boyd, according to the RNS, reportedly told the New Life congregation that the church’s insurance company arranged a settlement with a young man who claimed to have had a sexual relationship with Haggard, who was forced to resign in 2006 after a male escort came forward with charges of gay sex and drug use.
Boyd told worshippers that none of their weekly offerings had been used to pay the settlement, and admitted that church leaders had long known about the allegations.
“For the last two years, we carried the burden, the weight, of this information to protect you,” Boyd said. “We’ve been diligent, faithful, pastoral, honest … every step of the way.”
Boyd, according to the RNS, said church leaders were forced to keep quiet because of the settlement’s terms, and also because “I have to use discretion, our staff has to use discretion, and sometimes we have to use confidentiality … especially when it concerns people we’re trying to help heal. There’s nothing being held secret here.”
“There’s no secret. I’ve known every single bit of information for 18 months as your pastor. I’ve held it. I know how to handle it. I’ve walked it out.”
The RNS reported that Boyd, who took over after Haggard resigned in disgrace, apologized for the new round of allegations against Haggard.
“It’s been my hope as your pastor for the 18 months I’ve been here that this wound would heal and we wouldn’t have to revisit the unpleasant parts of our past, but unfortunately this week we’ve had to do that,” he said, adding later, “The wound will not always be with us, the wound will not always define us.”
“The Trials of Ted Haggard” documentary is scheduled to air on Thursday
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
Obama inauguration: What do Wright and Robinson have to do with it?
Yesterday, the Rev. Kathy McCallie, pastor of Church of the Open Arms, joined me in the OPUBCO video studio to discuss prayer at the inauguration with another local pastor, the Rev. Paul Blair, pastor of Fairview Baptist Church in Edmond.
I promised McCallie that I would try to find some information about the prayer offered by V. Gene Robinson (pictured at right), the Episcopal Church USA’s first openly gay bishop, who was asked to offer a prayer at the inauguration kick-off concert on Sunday at the Lincoln Memorial.
The Religion News Service sent out excerpts of his prayer, which I share here:
Robinson prayed that Americans may be “blessed” with anger at discrimination and with “freedom from mere tolerance.” Robinson also prayed that God would help Obama “to remember his own oppression as a minority, drawing on that experience of discrimination, that he might seek to change the lives of those who are still its victims.”
“Please, God, keep him safe,” Robinson prayed for Obama. “We know we ask too much of our presidents, and we’re asking far too much of this one. We know the risk he and his wife are taking for all of us, and we implore you, O good and great God, to keep him safe.
“Hold him in the palm of your hand — that he might do the work we have called him to do, that he might find joy in this impossible calling, and that in the end, he might lead us as a nation to a place of integrity, prosperity and peace.“’
Meanwhile, who doesn’t remember the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama’s former preacher at Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ? Obama ended up denouncing some of Wright’s imflammatory comments and ultimately severed ties with Wright during his candidacy for president.
Well Wright was in Washington D.C. where he preached at a chapel service at the historically black college Howard University.
According to the Religion News Service, Wright told those gathered at the service that he sees Obama’s inauguration as a sign of God’s providence and the fruit of “the faith of Rosa Parks and the blood of Martin Luther King Jr.”
“The Lord stepped into a scrawny black kid’s ability,” Wright, who is now pastor emeritus of Trinity, said in his sermon. “The Lord stepped into his story and gave him a new attitude. The scrawny kid with the big ears said. `Yes we can. I got a new attitude.“’
Both Robinson and Wright have been controversial for various reasons and yet they have had their say in D.C.
Stay tuned for commentary on Rick Warren and his invocation prayer …
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
How to pray for Obama
Beliefnet.com features “How to Pray for Obama,” written by preacher and author Max Lucado especially for today — Barack Obama’s presidential inauguration day.
If you’ve been watching TV this morning, then you know that Obama’s big day has already begun with much fanfare.
See what Lucado has to say about offering prayers for the new president: “How to Pray for Obama.”
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
Finding room at the inn
The Rev. George Back and his book “Christmas Joy: Let Heaven and Nature Sing” came into my life at just the right time.
If you’ve ever had something happen that you can’t quite define as coincidence, you will understand what I am saying.
Due to an upcoming assignment and the very premise of Christmas, I had been thinking of Joseph and his pregnant wife Mary and their search for shelter thousands of years ago.
The phrase that kept ringing in my mind as I have heard the story told through songs and oration, “Is there room in the inn?”
One particular day, it struck me personally, that Christ asks on a daily basis “is there room” in one’s heart for Him?
Then I picked up Dean Back’s book and it opened to the page that included the following essay:
“Baby Jesus as Spiritual Guide”
The Gospel of Luke tells the story about how Mary and Joseph brought baby Jesus into the temple when he was eight days old. Many old people like Simeon and Anna came to the temple in order to spend their final days in the presence of God, then to die and be buried in that holy place.
When Jesus was brought as a baby into the temple, old Simeon and old Anna immediately saw what their souls yearned for. They had come to the holy polace to complete their lives, and in looking at this newborn, they saw fulfillment of life.
“Now let your servant depart in peace,” proclaimed Simeon.
What he meant was, “I have seen God’s presence in this baby and now I am ready to be born from above.”
Birth and death, breathing in and breathing out, beginning and end, new and old — all these counterparts belong to one spiritual stream of divine grace.
The treasure of a pilgrim’s soul lies in the immensity of its immaturity. Within this immaturity lies the possibility for freedom, growth and development.
Babies rejoice in spiritual incompleteness; they don’t worry about their weakness and incompetence. A baby enjoys being merely a baby.
Likewise, we should let our souls rejoice that we have so far to grow.
When Mary realizes that she is pregnant with God she sings the first Christmas carol. It is the song of one who is mired deep in a poverty of spirit, but who then recognizes the immense possibility of God alive within her. Like Anna and Simeon who came to die but see abundance of life, Mary sees the glory of god springing forth from the depths of her humility. So it is that Mary sings the words we now call “The Magnificat”:
My soul magnifies the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour,
for he regards the lowliness of his handmaiden (Luke 1:46-47).
The spiritual pilgrim will see in the baby a helpful guide. Babies live by grace, not by competence. They ask for food from the center of their hunger.
Jesus teaches his followers to pray to his Father in heaven, who knows how to give good gifts to us. In Gospel parables he urges us to pester God — like the persistent widow who nags the dishonest judge, or like the host who annoys his neighbor in order to provide hospitality for a guest.
Do not attempt to speak to God from a posture of confidence in your worthiness, but from your spiritual, intellectual and emotional neediness.
Like Anna and Simeon, seek God in your dying. Like Mary, the unmarried-yet-expectant mother, seek God from your humiliation.
Like a baby, cry deeply from an empty stomach, to be filled with the presence of God.
——-
Dean Back’s book is available at the St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral bookstore and Full Circle Bookstore in 50 Penn Place.
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
Some clergy still concerned about immigration law
When the first anniversary of
But Pruett, pastor of St. Peter Catholic Church in Guymon, said the law still engenders widespread fear among immigrants in his
He said the anxiety level is such that Hispanic immigrants are continuing to leave Guymon in droves.
“With the possibility of being discovered, there is fear,” Pruett said.
House Bill 1804, authored by Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore, became law on Nov. 1, 2007. The law makes it a felony to knowingly transport illegal immigrants, creates barriers to hiring illegal immigrants and requires proof of citizenship to receive certain governmental benefits or a driver’s license.
Terrill could not be reached for comment for this posting.
Meanwhile, a
Still, the Rev. Perla Martinez-Goody, an associate pastor at San Mateo Fellowship, a Hispanic ministry of First United Methodist Church of Pauls Valley, said many immigrants have left her city, pulling their children out of school and heading back to their native lands or other states.
She said the exodus due to fear is almost as bad as deportation.
“It’s sad to watch them dismantle their homes.”
The Rev. Leonel Blanco, pastor of Santa Maria Virgen Mision Church in south
Recently the Episcopal priest said members who chose to leave the state are greatly missed because many of them had been with the ministry for a long time and were heavily involved in the church.
Blanco, originally from
The clergy members said they see the immigration reform law as punitive and uncharitable to hardworking people trying to make a better life for their families.
“I see the faces behind the word ‘immigration’ — women, children, men, husbands, wives, sons and daughters. People seem to forget that,” Martinez-Goody said.
Pruett and Martinez-Goody said they hold out hope the law will be repealed and another solution more in keeping with biblical principles of compassion will be found.
“The immigration system needs an overhaul from top to bottom,” Pruett said. “Hopefully whoever gets in the White House will have the courage to do that.”
Martinez-Goody said: “I still pray that the Lord will touch the hearts of the politicians.”
Blanco said more than ever, he is encouraging Hispanic Americans to vote to make sure their voices are heard on such issues as immigration reform.
“That’s the only way our voices are going to be heard,” he said.
BACKGROUND
Last year, clergy opposition against House Bill 1804 gained momentum as the bill was set to become law.
– A council of priests with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City presented Gov. Brad Henry’s office with a signed “Pledge of Resistance,” expressing their opposition to the immigration reform law, a few days before it went into effect. The pledge, also signed by Archbishop Eusebius J. Beltran, was crafted by an
– The Catholic Diocese of Tulsa hosted a special Mass the day before the bill became law to pray for Hispanic families concerned about its implementation.
– The Oklahoma Conference of Churches, representing 16 Christian faiths, issued a statement of opposition to the law on the day it went into effect. Conference leaders said the law was unjust.
– About 350 people attended an Interfaith Vigil for Undocumented Persons at an Oklahoma City Catholic church on the day the bill became law.
– The Baptist General Convention of
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
Faithful Five: Weekend Events
Here’s my “faithful five” — five events going on in the faith community this weekend, Oct. 17-19. If what you read below intrigues you, go check it out for yourself:
1. Cars for a cause. Del Baptist Temple is hosting its second annual Car Show from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday,this time to benefit the family of 18-month-old Wyatt Beasley. Little Wyatt received a heart transplant several weeks ago in St. Louis, Mo. He is out of the hospital now and the church is hoping to raise money to help the family meet the assorted expenses that have resulted from the child’s illness. The show includes cars, of course, plus a moonwalk, horseshoe tourney, face painting, crafts and free hot dogs. For more information, call 670-2900.
2. Old time religion. Many Springs Baptist Church’s Old-Time Brush Arbor Revival continues tonight and Saturdayat the church located 5 miles south of Holdenville on Highway 48. The revival includes preaching, devotions and Creek/Seminole singing. The church wanted to honor pastors, their 
preaching and the hymns of the Creek/Seminole people. Services are 7 tonight and 11 a.m. and 7 p.m.on Saturday.
3. Happy Anniversary! Kellyville United Methodist Church will celebrate its 100th anniversary on Sunday. The celebration will include special guest Bishop Robert Hayes Jr. of the Oklahoma United Methodist Conference, music, food, children’s games and fellowship time. For more information, call (918) 247-6994.
4. Let’s discuss ethics. A Medical Ethics Panel Discussion will be held at 4:30 p.m. Sunday at Christ the King Catholic Church, 8005 Dorset Drive in Nichols Hills. The discussion will examine what the Catholic Church teaches about end-of-life issues. For more information, call 843-4766.
5. Silver bells.Channing Unitarian Universalist Church is celebrating its silver anniversary with several services and activities set for Sunday. The Edmond church will hold a 9:45 a.m. forum where the history of the church will be shared. At 11 a.m. the service will be led by the Rev. Scot Harvey. The highlight of the day will be an Open House beginning at 2:30 p.m. Refreshments will be served and the choir from Channing Unitarian Church will perform a song that was sung at the church’s first service 25 years ago. More celebratory events will be held at 3 p.m. at the church, 2800 W 15th Street.
Bonus: Black Baptist group meets in city. On Monday,the Oklahoma Baptist State Convention, the state’s largest black Baptist convention, will begin its annual convention at Fairview Baptist Church, 1020 NE 42. Services begin at 7 p.m. with a Welcome Program, followed by a pre-convention musical. Sessions will officially begin at 8:45 a.m. Tuesday. For more information, call 232-1621.
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
Secrets of a church shopper
I think that many people will find the Rev. Thomas Harrison’s role as Secret Church Shopper pretty fascinating.
It might cause church members to wonder how he would rate their own church should he happen to slide into the pews one Sunday.
On Tuesday, Harrison showed me one of his reports from a church shopping expedition at a metro area ministry.
The report was more than 50 pages long, bound and very thorough.
Harrison rates churches on nine categories. Some of those include appearance, cleanliness, hospitality, signage, information and educational services, church offiices, worship space and experience. He said each category has subcategories, such as parking lot, restrooms, etc.
The Secret Church Shopper rates churches according to a signal light system: Green light, all is well. Yellow light, a concern has been raised and something should be done to address it. Red light, there’s a problem that must be addressed immediately.
Sounds pretty simple, but of course it’s not.
Harrison’s report actually begins before he ever drives into the church’s parking lot. The Rev. Greg Wheat, senior pastor of Christian Life Assembly in Lexington, said Harrison’s report to his church included a demographic report of the area surrounding the church and information about how well the church was known or remained a mystery within the local community.
Harrison said he pays attention to details that many church members may not even think about because they’ve been attending their church for so long. For instance, he calls the church after business hours to find out if the ministry’s voice mail system is easy to navigate. He also goes online to find out about the church’s Web site.
Harrison’s unique service certainly gives congregations something to think about.
Any visitor could be a church shopper come Sunday morning. Just an unofficial one.
What they encounter may mean the difference between another new member or someone hitting the exit doors with plans never to return.
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
Keeping the faith beyond the teen years
My story on today’s cover of The Oklahoman’s “Life” section focused on the ways campus ministries seek to connect with students at several of the state’s colleges.
However, that was not the focus of researchers who reviewed the data from The Barna Group’s study mentioned in the story.
The study noted that despite strong levels of spiritual activity during the teen years, most twenty-somethings disengage from active participation in the Christian faith during their young adult years and often beyond that.
Researchers indicated that churches could do a better job at discipling teens so that they don’t fall away from the faith when they are in their twenties.
“Much of the ministry to teenagers in America needs an overhaul — not because churches fail to attract significant numbers of young people, but because so much of those efforts are not creating a sustainable faith beyond high school,” David Kinnaman, the director of research, wrote.
“There are certainly effective youth ministries across the country, but the levels of disengagement among twenty-somethings suggests that youth ministry fails too often at discipleship and faith formation. A new standard for viable youth ministry should be — not the number of attenders, the sophistication of the vents, or the ‘cool’ factor of the youth group — but whether teens have the commitment, passion and resources to pursue Christ intentionally and whole-heartedly after they leave the youth ministry nest.”
In his report Kinnaman said the Barna research team is conducting more research into what leads to a sustainable faith, but they have already observed some critical enhancements that youth workers might consider.
“One of those is to be more personalized in ministry,” Kinnaman wrote. “Every teen has different needs, questions and doubts, so helping them to wrestle through those specific issues and to understand God’s unique purpose for their lives is significant. The most effective churches have set up leadership development tracks and mentoring processes to facilitate this type of personalization.”
Here are more findings from the survey:
– Most twenty-somethings maintain outward allegiance to Christianity: 78 percent of twenty-somethings say they are Christians, compared with 83 percent of teenagers.
– Loyalty to congregations is one of the casualties of young adulthood: Twenty-somethings were nearly 70 percent more likely than older adults to strongly assert that if they “cannot find a local church that will help them become more like Christ, then they will find people and groups that will, and connect with them instead of a local church.
– Much of the activity of young adults, such as it is, takes place outside congregations. Young adults were just as likely as older Americans to attend special worship events not sponsored by a local church, to participate in a spiritually oriented small group at work, to have a conversation with someone else who holds them accountable for living faith principles, and to attend a house church not associated with a conventional church. Interestingly, there was one area in which the spiritual activities of twenty-somethings outpaced their predecessors: visiting faith-related Web sites.
What do you think? What would help young people continue to “keep the faith” from their teen years on into their young adulthood?
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
